Innocent Seduction

Leona stared out the window, watching the countryside flash by. The wind blew against her face through the open window and the crisp smells of spring filled her senses. Having grown up in the city, Leona loved being in the country far away from the hustle and bustle. Something about it was calming.

"I can't wait for school to be over with. I'll miss high school, but I've dated just about all the guys there. College will be full of fresh blood."

Leona turned to look at her best friend, Carin. Carin is almost the exact opposite of Leona; blond hair, athletic build, confident and outgoing. There have been many times when Leona has envied her friend, wished she could be just like her.

"Carin, school isn't all about guys. It's about learning. I'm going to college to learn, not to check guys out."

Leona hasn't applied to any colleges yet, the one bit of defiance she has allowed herself after eighteen years. She looks back out the window and focuses all her thoughts on the scenery around her, and not on her future. The song on the radio seems to mock her as it talks about being strong and living free.

"You're such a drag, Leona, you know that? I say we go to the same college and I show you how to have a good time. You need to hook up with a hot guy, experience life a little. Otherwise, you are just going to live a boring life."

"Maybe that's what I want."

But it isn't, it's what they want me to do. I want more…

Leona pushed away her thoughts, she can't allow herself to think that way. All the years that her parents took care of her, she at least owes them a good college, her life. She cannot allow her mind to be filled with fantasy.

"Suit yourself… Hey, look at that!"

A billboard is coming up on Leona's side of the road and she knows it can't be good if it caught Carin's eye. The board advertised a new club called 'Club Oasis' that's only been open for a month. Leona can see the sparkle in Carin's eyes and it is no surprise to her when, a few minutes later, they pull into the parking lot of the club.

"Carin, what are you doing?"

"I just want to go in and check it out. It won't take long."

"We can't Carin, you know that my parents expect me home before dark. We were only supposed to go to Wellington for a little shopping, nothing else. My parents will kill me if they know I'm here."

Her hands are suddenly wet with sweat and it feels to her as if the temperature in the car has gone up a good twenty degrees. Carin can't really expect me to go inside a club. We probably have to be twenty-one to get in anyway. It will be all right, we're clearly not old enough and the bouncer will turn us away.

"I wish I'd known we would be checking this out, I would have dressed differently. Come on, don't be such an old woman, live while you're young."

When Carin gets out of the car Leona decides to follow her, if only to watch the bouncer turn them away. She glances around the parking lot, paranoid that her parent's will suddenly show up, or by chance a friend of theirs might be at the club. It'll be alright, the bouncer will tell us no and we will be on our way, no time lost.

The bouncer is tall, over six feet and broad. Leona can't help but think he looks like a giant towering over the two of them. His cheeks are pox-marked and something about his eyes sent a chill down her back. All of her internal signals were screaming danger when she looked at him, so she made a point of avoiding further eye contact. She has always been able to sense things about people, it's one of the few skills that she has.

"What's up?" Carin cheerfully asks the bouncer as they walk up to him. He returns Carin's smile and motions for them to enter, Carin's smile broadens and her face lights up. Leona sneaks a peak at the man as they enter the club and catches him winking at them. What kind of club lets people in without checking ID's?

Leona knows that they look young, but somehow they had still managed to get inside. The sick feeling in the pit of her stomach grew worse. She has the feeling that something bad is about to happen.

"Oh, look, they have a dance floor!"

To their left is a bar, to the right a small grouping of about five tables and dead center a dance floor. Everything is packed, except for the tables, the bar doesn't have an empty seat and the dance floor doesn't seem like it could hold another person. The crowded dance floor doesn't stop Carin from heading towards it, or to ask Leona to join.

Leona just shakes her head, "No, I don't want to be here, remember. I'm just going to wait for you at a table. Please don't take too long, if my parents get home before I do I'm dead."

"Don't worry about it, one or two dances and we will leave. I promise."

With that Carin disappears into the crowd of people. Its slow progress to the tables as Leona has to practically part the waters to get through the people. She's never been in a place so crowded before and it's making her feel claustrophobic. Finally at a table, she sits down with a sigh and her fingers drum against the table then plays with her hair as her eyes continuously search for Carin in the crowd. The sick feeling in the pit of her stomach doesn't abate when she finds Carin.

"Would you like something to drink?"

Leona practically jumps out of her seat at the voice in front of her. It takes all she has to slowly look up at the woman before her. Painfully dyed red hair, too much make-up, and squeezed into a black tank top and short shorts that pass for a uniform. The waitress is most likely younger than the thirty she appears, but Leona can't be certain.

"Just water, please."

The waitress makes a face but nods her head and disappears into the crowd. Leona doesn't understand what the draw is about a club, if they're all like this one she isn't interested. Rock blares from the speakers with a base so strong she can't even hear herself think. She can smell cigarettes and the faint hint of alcohol. There are a few smells she can't identify and doesn't want to.

****

A man sits at the bar and surveys the room looking for a target, someone who catches his eye. Women walk by and can't help but turn to look at him. He isn't worried about catching a woman's eye, just in finding the perfect prey. He's been coming to the club each night since it opened nearly a month ago. It's not his usual taste, too country, nestled between a buzzing metropolis and a small town.

His gaze was caught twice by a young woman sitting alone. She's too young for his tastes, obviously too young to be in such a place. She looks out of place in the club; jeans, old t-shirt, hair pulled back in a ponytail, and yet he couldn't stop looking at her. With his mind focusing on her he can almost hear her thoughts, her fears and anxieties. He feels an attraction to her that he hasn't felt in a long time, a fire that builds slowly from deep within. After all these years, could it be possible that he would actually feel something for another?

Without even realizing it he finds himself walking towards her table. He can't seem to take his eyes away from her. Her heart shaped face, full of the glows of youth and innocence. Her eyes match her hair, though a shade brighter. She might seem plain at first sight, he realizes that she is anything but plain as he moves closer.

What is a child like this doing here, he wonders to himself. She's dressed as if she had just come from school. He's spent years relying on his instinct for survival, never willing to allow himself to feel, to care. Years ago he had loved, had given himself wholly and completely to another and she had been taken away from him. Torn away as only death can. It had destroyed his heart, or so he thought. Now, looking at the young woman before him, he finds his heart waking up from its long slumber.

When he stops to stand beside her she doesn't even look up at him, oblivious to everything but the dance floor. He wonders if she has a date, maybe her boyfriend had abandoned her to dance with another woman? He couldn't see any man in his right mind abandoning her.

"Can I buy you a drink?"

He feels bad when she jumps out of her seat, she had been so preoccupied with her thoughts that he had inadvertently scared her.

"N-no, thanks, I have one coming."

One hand absently plays with a loose strand of hair while her eyes keep turning back to the dance floor. He can tell that she's trying to be polite and would rather be left alone, but he can't bring himself to leave. The pull she has on him is almost like an obsession. So, instead of leaving he sits down across from her.

"My name is Edward."

She looks back at him, her expression blank. It's always been easy for him to read a woman, to feel what they're feeling, but she's sending off so many different emotions it's hard to distinguish one from another. He knows that she's afraid, most likely of him and the unfamiliar territory, and can sense some confusion. The one thing that he's looking for, though, is missing.

"I'm sorry if I make you uncomfortable, I don't mean to. You just looked so alone that I thought I would keep you company."

Just then the waitress appears and places a glass in front of the girl. The waitress looks in his direction questioningly but he just shakes his head, no reason for him to become any more intoxicated than he already is. When the waitress leaves he takes a moment to study the drink across from him before deciding that it's water. How many underage kids come into a club only to drink water? Someone who doesn't want to be there.

"I'm fine, really. I-I'm just waiting for my friend to finish dancing."

Edward leans forward and places a hand over hers where it had been resting beside the water. He gives a small push mentally, trying to draw her out and fails miserably. He does find a small hint of what he had been looking for, desire. When she tries to pull her hand away he allows it, his interest is definitely peaked. Never before has anyone deflected him, she feels desire but it's not induced.

"How about we just talk until your friend returns?"

"I suppose that's all right."

He leans back in the chair trying to seem as casual as possible, all the while his body is screaming at him. No, never in a thousand years has a woman made him feel such fierce desire as he does at this moment.

"Do you usually hang out at clubs?"

"No, my friend dragged me here. I'm not even certain how we got in, neither of us are old enough to drink."

The next time she looks out onto the dance floor her eyes go wide and her face pales noticeably. He can only take it to mean she has lost sight of her friend. What kind of friend would drag you into a place you don't want to be and then abandon you?

"Club Oasis may have only been open for a month but it's already gotten a bad reputation. How old are you?"

"Eighteen. Only just."

At least he knows that she's legal in that area, if she had been any younger he would have gotten up then and there and left her alone. All right, maybe not alone but he would not have continued trying to seduce her.

"So that would mean you are in high school?"

"Yes."

She doesn't even look at him when she answers and he knows that he's dangerously close to losing her.

"I promise I'm not here to hurt you, I just want to talk. If it helps, think of me as your guardian. A young woman such as yourself shouldn't be here alone and I can tell by the look on your face a moment ago that your friend has disappeared."

That brought her around to look at him, a mix of surprise and anger on her face. "She didn't leave, I just can't see her. This place is too crowded and far too loud."

"That's a club for you, they try and overload your senses so that you'll buy more to drink to shut it all out."

"Well it's working, if I was old enough to drink I'm sure I'd be drunk by now."

Is that the hint of a smile on her face? Just that small twitch and he can see a different layer to her, another layer of beauty just waiting to be discovered.

"It's not that much fun to get drunk. I've done it a few times and you just wake up in the morning with a killer headache and smelling of vomit."

She laughs and the sound reverberates through his body and quickens the fire that's burning within him. It's unnatural that a laugh could have that effect on him. He is a creature of desire and is the one that seduces. To think that one human, little more than a child, could do this to him.

"That paints such a lovely picture, makes me never want to pick up drinking."

"It's probably for the best. So, do you have plans to enroll in college once you graduate?"

"On to the hard questions, huh? Yes, college comes after high school, that's what is expected of a straight A model student, after all."

He hears bitterness in her voice and wrinkles appear on her forehead. The anger he had sensed before came rushing to the surface. It's easy to tell she isn't happy with her life, though he's certain most teens feel that way.

"Is that what you want out of life?"

"Of course, college, land a good job, get married and start a family. It's what every girl wants."

Edward leans forward, his face suddenly serious. The girl's reaction to him is almost immediate as she starts to search for her friend again, the carefree attitude of a moment ago lost.

"No, what do you want to do? Not what your parents want or what anyone expects of you. What do you want?"

Surprise registers on her face and she seems at a loss for words.

"Adventure. I want to live, to seek out adventure and maybe even experience a little danger…"

A hand flies to her mouth, eyes wide. "I can't believe I just said that, I don't even know you."

"Sometimes it's the ones we don't know who understand us the best. Look into my eyes."

He makes eye contact with her and holds it, he has to try one more time before he can decide on a course of action. He wants the girl, wants her more than he's ever wanted another woman in too many years to count. He can feel her desire, carefully hidden, off-handedly suppressed. It's with all the strength he has that he pushes at her a second time, willing her to bend to his will. Her only reaction is to shiver and look scared, like a rabbit caught in the headlights of an oncoming car.

"Would you like to start having adventures now?"